Hailing a ride. Delivering takeout. Tidying up the house.

They all fall under the growing list of services offered in the gig economy. Many of us have made such conveniences staples in our personal lives.

More businesses have started using gig economy services through online labor platforms. Think of the platforms as Uber-style portals that connect companies with on-demand talent. While the gig economy as a whole is not growing as fast as headlines would indicate, the labor platforms that help fuel them are.

Why have these matchmaker platforms gained steam in corporate America?

The reasons vary, though most boil down to the challenges associated with today’s tight labor market. Rising labor costs and a dwindling number of available workers have compelled companies to seek new options when it comes to recruiting.

And as a sign of their growing popularity, the companies that use platforms to tap gig workers extend well beyond small businesses and niche start-ups. Today, large legacy companies count platforms as key tools in their staffing toolkits.

Here are four ways businesses are integrating gig-style platforms into their talent acquisition strategies.

Hiring Blue-Collar Workers

Who would have ever thought? These days, companies have more difficulty recruiting blue-collar workers than white-collar workers.

Young adults are shying away from the trades and manual work and instead are flocking to white-collar work. And at the same time, those who perform much of America’s blue-collar work — baby boomers — continue retiring in droves.

Blue-collar shortages will persist for at least another decade in sectors including hospitality, transportation, manufacturing and retail. Without a sufficient pool of available workers, companies will have to offer higher wages and absorb weakened corporate profits as a result.

Consider Coca-Cola, which uses the platform Wonolo to hire merchandise delivery drivers for restocking shelves in between scheduled deliveries. For fast-moving consumer-goods companies like Coke, hiring drivers on demand can mean avoiding “out of stocks” and salvaging billions of dollars in revenue missed due to empty shelves.

This op-ed was originally published by workforce. Continue reading here.